Youth vaping is an increasing public health concern. In Australia, government communications seek to promote compliance with regulations and reduce uptake and use. However, the extent to which these messages are informed by behaviour change theory remains unclear. Guided by theories of social cognition and their belief-based frameworks, this study examined the extent to which Australian vaping-related public health communications reflected key behavioural determinants associated with vaping prevention and cessation. An environmental scan of online communications from federal and state agencies and authorised health organisations was conducted to identify messages targeting vaping-related behaviour change. Materials were assessed for alignment with theoretically relevant constructs, including attitudes, social norms, perceived control/self-efficacy, intention/motivation, and other behavioural and social influences. Findings indicate that most communications emphasised attitudinal beliefs by framing vaping as harmful to health, alongside perceived behavioural control through encouragement to quit and provision of cessation resources. In contrast, relatively few messages addressed normative beliefs, such as peer influence, social approval, or social identity, despite the socially embedded nature of youth vaping. Habit formation and disruption were also largely absent from communications. The limited use of normative and habit-related strategies may reduce the relevance and persuasiveness of vaping communications for youth and other socially influenced populations. These findings highlight the importance of more systematically applying behaviour change theory in public health marketing communications on vaping. Integrating audience segmentation and broader social and behavioural determinants alongside attitudinal and control-focused strategies may strengthen the resonance and effectiveness of future vaping prevention and cessation communications.

ISSUE ADDRESSED:Swimming lessons are an effective drowning prevention strategy, yet uptake remains socially patterned. Socio-structural factors such as parent age, sex and family income may shape parents' decisions to enrol their children in swimming lessons. According to the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), people's beliefs, reflected in their attitudes, subjective norms and perceived control, drive health-related intentions. Socio-structural characteristics may therefore influence parents' intentions indirectly by shaping these underlying beliefs. This study examined an untested pathway, assessing whether socio-structural factors shape parents' beliefs and, in turn, their intentions to enrol children in swimming lessons. METHODS:Parents (N = 323) of primary school-aged children without prior formal lessons completed an online survey. Latent variable structural equation modelling in R (Lavaan) tested direct and indirect relationships between socio-structural factors, TPB constructs and intention. RESULTS:The model demonstrated good fit. Parent age predicted attitudes, subjective norms and perceived control. Sex directly predicted intention, while income predicted perceived control. All three TPB constructs significantly predicted intention, mediating the effects of age and income. The model explained 70% of variance in intention. CONCLUSIONS:Parents' intention to enrol their children in swimming lessons is shaped indirectly by socio-structural characteristics through belief-based TPB constructs. This highlights the importance of integrating structural determinants into social cognition models to better understand inequities in preventive health behaviours. SO WHAT?: Strengthening positive attitudes, supportive social norms and parental confidence, while reducing financial and structural barriers to participation, may improve equitable access to swimming lessons and contribute to drowning prevention.

BACKGROUND:The rising popularity of vaping among young people constitutes a significant public health concern, underscoring the need to identify factors that contribute to youth initiation and continued engagement in this potentially harmful behaviour. Investigation into the psychological mechanisms underlying vaping among young people remains relatively nascent and has, to date, seldom differentiated between the initial decision to try vaping (i.e., ever-use) and the regulation of sustained patterns of use (i.e., use frequency). METHOD:We surveyed 451 undergraduate students, collecting data on vaping use, attitudes toward vaping, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, harm perceptions, and behavioural automaticity. A hurdle modelling approach was used to examine two distinct processes: (1) the correlates of ever-use versus no vaping use, and (2) the frequency of use among individuals with prior vaping experience. RESULTS:Findings supported the application of hurdle modelling, revealing distinct correlates for ever-use and use frequency. Specifically, the former was associated with attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control, whereas the latter was associated solely with attitudes and behavioural automaticity. Notably, harm perceptions were not associated with either ever-use or the frequency of use. CONCLUSION:Findings indicate that both ever-use of a vape and frequency of use are associated with beliefs of the outcomes and experiential experiences of the behaviour, rather than by cognitive evaluations of harm. Although conclusions are limited by the cross-sectional design, current results point to the possibility that the psychological determinants of initial experimentation with vaping may differ from those that sustain use frequency.

Research, on the whole, does not suggest that time spent on social media is associated with risks to mental health, although it is possible there are more nuances about how people use social media. Further, evidence suggests that individuals with emotion regulation difficulties may be drawn to certain social media behaviours as a means of coping with distress. The present study aimed to examine whether emotion regulation difficulties predict patterns of social media use and, in turn, symptoms of depression and anxiety. We examined four distinct types of social media use: (1) image management-based, (2) social comparison-based, (3) negative engagement-based, and (4) passive consumption-based. Sampling 548 adults aged 18-84 years (Mage = 33.16, SD = 17.37; 401 (73.2 %) female; 128 (23.2 %) male), we tested a structural equation model to examine whether the four distinct types of social media use mediated links between difficulties in emotion regulation at Time 1 and depression and anxiety symptomology at Time 2, one week later. Results suggested that, when controlling for age, difficulties in emotion regulation significantly predicted all types of social media use and symptoms of depression and anxiety over one week. Only comparison-based social media use predicted anxiety symptoms over time. The model explained 50.1 % and 52.1 % of the variance in depression and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Taken together, these findings suggest the critical importance of emotion regulation in predicting mental health. By contrast, with the exception of social comparison and anxiety, no form of social media use predicted mental health outcomes.

Youth vaping and nicotine pouch use have risen as cigarette smoking declines, yet comparative evidence on their determinants remains limited. This study examined how socio-structural factors and an extended theory of planned behavior model predict nicotine vaping, nicotine pouch use, and cigarette smoking among Finnish youth. A survey of 1194 youth aged 15-25 assessed socioeconomic status, health literacy, theory of planned behavior belief-based constructs, intentions, behavior, and addiction. Nicotine pouches were viewed most favorably. Male gender associated more strongly with pouch use than vaping or smoking. Health literacy, but not socioeconomic status, predicted all behaviors. Affective attitudes were the strongest correlates across products; instrumental attitudes showed no effects. Friend norms exceeded family norms in influence, particularly for smoking. Affective attitudes and friend norms emerged as cross-cutting influences, while gender patterns and normative effects varied by product. Prevention strategies should address both shared and product-specific determinants.

School burnout symptoms are increasing among adolescents in Nordic countries, especially among female students. In this study, we investigated the trajectories of school burnout symptoms (overall symptoms, exhaustion, cynicism, and inadequacy) across three years of lower secondary education (ages 13-15) among Finnish studentathletes (n = 265; 117 female, 148 male) and regular students (n = 174; 95 female, 79 male). We also examined how these trajectories were associated with gender and social support from the students' teachers, peers, and parents. The participants completed the associated questionnaires three times during lower secondary school. Latent growth models showed that there were no differences in burnout symptoms between student-athletes and regular students at baseline. Female students and female student-athletes reported more burnout symptoms at baseline, and female student-athletes became more exhausted over time. Teacher and peer support were associated with lower rates of increase in burnout symptoms over time. Educational relevance and implications statement: By examining school burnout trajectories and their associations with student-athlete status, gender, and social support from teachers, peers, and parents, we provide new insights into the development of school burnout symptoms in different student groups across lower secondary education (ages 13-15). The findings suggest that being an adolescent female student and female student-athlete may be a risk factor for school burnout. Lower secondary schools should consider this finding and provide additional support for female students and female student-athletes already at the early stages of the school years. Additionally, schools should develop practices to ensure that the combined demands of schoolwork and athletic training do not exceed female student-athletes' coping resources throughout over time. To avert students' burnout in school, continuous attention needs to be paid to teacher and peer relationships.

Loneliness has been identified as a global health concern and its prevalence is increasing. Attachment theory and self-determination theory can provide insight into the underlying factors which may cause people to feel lonely. This study examined whether individuals' attachment orientations are associated with their self-determined solitude and non-self-determined solitude, and in turn, their feelings of loneliness. Online surveys were administered to 548 adult community members (35.8%) and university students (64.2%), (M age = 33.16, SD age = 17.38, range = 18-84). The survey measured attachment orientations, motivation for solitude (i.e., self-determined and non-self-determined solitude), and loneliness. The study used a prospective correlational design with 1-week between the Time 1 and Time 2 surveys. Structural equation modelling was used to test the predictive effects of anxious and avoidant attachment orientations on loneliness, as mediated by motivation for solitude. Analyses revealed that higher motivation for non-self-determined solitude mediated the relationship between anxious and avoidant attachment on loneliness. Self-determined solitude did not mediate the relationship between anxious and avoidant attachment and loneliness. However, self-determined solitude was associated with lower loneliness. These findings highlight that higher motivation for non-self-determined solitude may be a key mechanism linking anxious and avoidant attachment orientations with loneliness. Additionally, self-determined solitude seems to play a key role in reducing loneliness. The findings expand our understanding of motivational processes for those with higher attachment anxiety and avoidance, providing key practical implications for future interventions to focus on increasing self-determined solitude through psychological need fulfilment for individuals with higher attachment anxiety and avoidance, which may help to decrease loneliness.

Experiences of aloneness are inevitable, yet relatively little research has explored what explains positive experiences of solitude. As attachment orientations shape the experience of aloneness it is plausible they are associated with positive solitude. This study examined the relationship between attachment orientations and experiences of positive solitude, mediated via behavioural emotion regulation strategies. Adults living in Australia (N = 548; Mage = 33.16, SD = 17.38) completed measures of attachment and behavioural emotion regulation (Time 1), and positive solitude (Time 2, one week later). Structural equation modelling tested effects of anxious and avoidant attachment on positive solitude via five behavioural emotion regulation strategies: seeking distraction, seeking social support, actively approaching, ignoring, and withdrawal. The final model accounted for 24.8% of the variance in positive solitude. Avoidant and anxious attachment predicted different patterns of emotion regulation while all emotion regulation strategies significantly predicted positive solitude. Avoidant attachment indirectly predicted lower positive solitude while anxious attachment directly and indirectly predicted lower positive solitude. Findings suggest that both attachment orientation and emotion regulation shape the capacity to experience solitude positively. These results highlight the importance of considering attachment and emotion regulation in designing personalised interventions to promote adaptive and positive experiences of aloneness.

BackgroundHealth behaviors and motives within family units are likely to be associated with the motives and behaviors of other family members. A potential mechanism for these relations is that parents citing autonomous motives toward physical activity are more likely to support their child's autonomous motivation to be active. The current study tested a model specifying relations between parent autonomous motivation and parent, child, and parent-and-child joint physical activity behavior with parent autonomy-supportive parenting, child-perceived autonomy support, and child autonomous motivation specified as mediators of the autonomous motivation-child physical activity relationship.MethodData on autonomous motivation, autonomy-supportive parenting, perceived autonomy support, and physical activity, both alone and jointly between parents and children, were collected from a sample of 88 Finnish parent-child dyads and analyzed using a partial least squares structural equation modeling.ResultsFindings indicated associations between parent autonomous motivation and parent and joint parent-child physical activity, and an indirect effect of autonomy-supportive parenting on child physical activity mediated by child-perceived autonomy support and autonomous motivation.ConclusionResults provide a potential explanation for relations between parental motives and child physical activity as a function of supportive parenting and signpost potential targets for family-based behavior change interventions.

Theoretically, self-control can be considered as both a facilitator of habit development and a moderator of whether behavior occurs habitually. However, debate remains on the contexts in which such relationships are likely to occur. The current study tested whether self-control, conceptualized into inhibitory and initiatory facets, would predict healthy behavior via habits or moderate the habit-behavior relationship, and whether these effects differed across complex (bootcamp attendance N = 69, physical activity in pregnant women N = 115) and simple (flossing N = 254) behaviors. Three independent samples completed measures of self-control and habit, followed by a prospective measure of behavior. Data were fitted to PLS-SEM models. Inhibitory and initiatory self-control predicted habit in all three samples, and habit in turn predicted each health behavior. Inhibitory self-control only moderated the effect of habit in the bootcamp and physical activity samples. Initiatory self-control did not moderate effects in any sample. Findings indicate that both initiatory and inhibitory self-control are associated with habit. Further, as the moderating effect of inhibitory self-control was only present in the complex behavior samples, results suggest the moderating effects of self-control on the habit-behavior relationship may be best represented by the effect of inhibiting competing cues from disrupting automatically activated behavioral sequences.

In this three-year longitudinal study, we examined (1) how cognitive engagement and burnout in sports and school predicted adolescent Finnish student-athletes' sporting and educational outcomes, (2) whether these associations differed by gender, and (3) how engagement and burnout jointly contributed to student-athletes' transitions to upper secondary sports schools. Student-athletes (aged 13 at Time 1; n = 208; 55% male, 45% female) completed questionnaires three times during lower secondary school, and their graduating grade point average, level of sports competition, and acquired study position in upper secondary education were obtained from the national study registry. The results showed that (a) males reported higher engagement in sports, whereas females reported higher engagement in school; (b) higher cognitive engagement was associated with lower burnout levels in both sports and school; (c) higher engagement in either domain increased the likelihood of competing at the national level and being accepted into upper secondary sports schools; (d) sports engagement predicted acceptance into upper secondary sports schools only among student-athletes without symptoms of sports burnout; and (e) higher school engagement predicted a higher graduating grade point average, whereas high sports engagement predicted a lower grade point average. These findings demonstrate how engagement and burnout interact across the school and sports domains and highlight the importance of school engagement, rather than sports engagement, in promoting successful dual career outcomes during the transition to upper secondary education.

Physical activity levels decline as children transition into adolescence. Preventing this trend may contribute to beneficial physical activity patterns later in life. Examining children's and parents' beliefs and behaviors can provide insight for designing (family-based) physical activity interventions. Groups of inactive parent-child dyads (N = 48) were interviewed about their dyadic and individual experiences of physical activity; salient psychological, social, and environmental factors; and ideas about how to improve their physical activity participation. The interviews were analyzed inductively using reflexive thematic analysis. Enjoyment was a key motivator of participant physical activity and required physical activity was also enjoyable. Lack of time, lack of self-control, and screen time were identified as barriers, and participants noted a loss of coactivity. The findings suggest avenues and preferences for future interventions, including fostering autonomous motivation, supporting the internalization of controlled forms of motivation, increasing opportunities for physical activity, and developing action control skills.

ABSTRACTSchool sport programs for lower secondary school in Finland (i.e., Grades 7–9) show great promise in helping student athletes prepare for careers in both sport and academic pursuits. However, it has also been found that participation in these programs is highly competitive and demanding and may result in poor mental health outcomes like burnout for some students. The purpose of the current study was to investigate how burnout in sport and school in Finnish lower secondary school students was associated with gender, age, training loads, level of competition, and sport type. A sample of 856 lower secondary school students (Grades 7–9, ages 13–15 years old) completed measures of sport and school burnout and provided information on their demographics and sport. Gender, age, training loads, level of competition, and sport type predicted a small but significant portion of variance in sport‐related exhaustion, cynicism, and inadequacy, and in school‐related exhaustion, but not school cynicism or inadequacy. Females and student athletes with higher training loads generally reported higher levels of burnout, while only a small number of effects related to age, competition level, and type of sport were observed. Lower secondary sports schools in Finland might aim to understand the difficulties encountered by student athletes, particularly females and those with higher training loads. This understanding can guide them in taking informed, practical measures to safeguard the mental health of these students and optimize their performance both academically and athletically.

Physical activity levels among early adolescents and their parents are insufficient for health benefits. Identifying modifiable determinants in parent-child dyads can inform future research and interventions. We tested a partial least squares path model based on the integrated behavior change model in insufficiently active Finnish parent-child dyads (n = 88), including measures of autonomous and controlled motivation, social cognition constructs (attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control), intention, planning, and habits. Autonomous motivation predicted attitude in both samples, but only predicted subjective norms and perceived behavioral control in children. Attitude in turn predicted intention, planning, and habit, in the child sample, but only intention and planning in parents. Perceived behavioral control predicted intention and planning only in children, while subjective norm had minimal effects in either sample. Autonomous motivation and attitude consistently determined intention and planning for both parents and children, highlighting their importance in future research and interventions.

Compliance with COVID-19 preventive behaviours together with the urgency to contain the virus underscored the need for rapid yet effective public health massaging. While messages aimed to inform and protect the public, the evolving situation often precluded the use of theoretically-based and empirically-informed approaches. This study aimed to analyse the presence and prevalence of belief-based constructs and strategies known to foster behaviour change embedded within Australian Government communications regarding compliance with QR code check-in behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic using the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a guiding framework. Six belief codes and five behaviour change techniques were identified in 17 communication messages. Findings highlight the use of potentially effective strategies in the messages to change behaviour; for example, drawing on attitudinal and self-efficacy beliefs. Yet, results identified gaps, such as a lack of strategies to highlight normative influences and build habits that can inform future messaging and pandemic preparedness.

The study examined burnout profiles in adolescent student-athletes based on sport and school burnout symptoms. We explored whether psychological distress, self-esteem, athletic identity, and student identity were associated with these profiles, accounting for age, gender, and type of sport. Participants included 642 student-athletes from Grades 8–10 (age 12–14, 57% males and 43% females) in eight Norwegian sport schools. Using latent profile analysis, we identified five profiles: mild sport and school burnout (46%), high burnout (22.5%), well-functioning (17.9%), predominantly school burnout (8.6%), and predominantly sport burnout (5%). Female student-athletes and those in Grades 9–10 were more at risk. Low self-esteem and high psychological distress increased the likelihood of burnout in sport and school, while a strong student identity seemed to protect against school burnout. These findings suggest that combining competitive sport with education at an early age may put student-athletes at risk for burnout symptoms in sport and school.

The present study investigated the unique effects of implicit and explicit attitude forms on behavior and, critically, effects of salient conditions and contextual moderators expected to determine the relative size of each form on behavior in a meta-analytic synthesis review. Specifically, we tested the effects of salient methodological (e.g., methodology used to infer implicit attitude, measure of behavior characteristics, presentation order), conceptual (e.g., conceptualization of explicit attitude, degree of conscious control, social desirability concerns, target behavior), and sample-related (e.g., age) moderators on the relative effects of each form of attitude on behavior. We tested a model specifying unique effects of each form of attitude on behavior using multilevel meta-analytic structural equation modeling in studies (k = 1,108) identified in a systematic literature search. Moderator effects were tested by estimating the model across groups of studies at each level of the moderator. Consistent with prior research, we found unique bias-corrected averaged effects of both forms of attitude when regressed simultaneously on behavior, with a larger effect size for explicit attitudes. Moderator analyses revealed relatively few systematic differences in the effect of each form of attitude on behavior across moderator levels, although we observed larger explicit attitude effects in studies reporting larger correlations between implicit and explicit attitudes. Findings indicate nonzero small-sized unique effects of each form of attitude on behavior across contexts and samples, albeit with high residual heterogeneity after accounting for moderators signaling the need for large-sample primary research systematically testing the effects of further salient moderators. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Introducing EMPOWER, the European network for postdoctoral early career & Mid-career researchers in health PsychOlogy focusing on Well-being & Empowerment of Researchers, the newest of the European Health Psychology Society’s networks.

Insufficient physical activity is a widespread health concern, necessitating the broad implementation of evidence-based behavior change interventions. Such evidence commonly derives from randomized controlled trials, but questions arise about who is willing to enroll and actively engage in such trials. This study investigated factors predicting engagement and retention in an online physical activity intervention for inactive parent-child dyads. Participants were recruited from the general Finnish population and assigned to either an intervention or wait-list control group. The intervention consisted of online materials, SMS prompts, and four online sessions. Partial least squares regression models were used to analyze autonomous motivation, parent and child gender, parental education, employment status, and recruitment source as predictors of intervention retention and engagement. Results showed that intervention retention was predicted by higher autonomous motivation, being a mother, social media recruitment, and university education. Session attendance was higher for autonomously motivated parents, fathers, parents of daughters, and university-educated parents. These findings highlight the importance of autonomous motivation and demographic factors in intervention engagement. However, the higher engagement of already motivated participants demonstrates challenges for reaching and intervening on those who might benefit most from such programs. Future research should explore strategies to engage and retain less motivated individuals and investigate reasons behind non-compliance to improve the effectiveness of physical activity interventions for inactive families.